OWU Fraternity Hill Greek Life Move Out:

A Green Initiative

Christopher Badenhop, Independent Study- Project Manager

Samuel Keen & Alexander Schuster, Geog 360

4/30/14

Project Introduction

Today's American material lifestyle as discussed in many of the classrooms around OWU, including Geog 360 and the discussion of Edward Humes Garbology, is a throw away society with little regard for things. Items are made intentionally cheap and often they are designed to be obsolete almost immediately after market release( ex- cell phones and other technologies). This contributes to the vast accumulation of “stuff” in the American household and often this stuff is simply discarded with zero concern for its final destination; our overflowing landfills. Often a stop along the way to the landfill is the college campus. Where hand-me-down furniture goes for its final run and out dated TV's breath their last, a groups of friends are disappointed when the death occurs in the middle of such popular programs as Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad.

Project Overview

In the past on OWU's campus projects like “May Move Out” have been undertaken to combat the flow of “stuff” from our campus to landfills. However this year the recycling initiative has been abandoned by the supposedly “green” OWU administration in favor of other policies such as fining students for abandoned items and encouraging the flow of items directly to landfills with the appearance of industrial dumpsters in parking lots around campus. We aim to avoid this useless flow of “stuff” to landfills in our own small way with those who like use live in the Greek houses on fraternity hill. As members of this lifestyle we certainly understand that “Frat Houses” are often great accumulators of useless junk and old things. Rather than using the university dumpsters for everything we will encourage our fellow Greek brethren to utilize our groups own form of landfill diversion.

Project Implementation

Our group with the closing of the school year (within the next few days) will be placing large containers in the main entrances of these houses with clearly marked contents. Our group aims to focus on the diversion of electronics and clothing items from landfills. These items can often be reused by less fortunate and items that cannot be reused can be recycled for their part or unusable clothes can be re-purposed industrial rags and other useful products as We also will aid in the diversion of general recyclables. Upon the departure of the majority of campus we will then collect the bins in both Chris' and Alex's trucks and sort the items. Our items will then be taken to Good Will. Good Will retails gently used clothing as well as useable electronics Those items that cannot be retailed are sold for re-purpose or in some cases given to groups that help handicapped citizens attain employment through the sorting and removing of recyclable parts.

Those Houses who will be Effected

Our scope for this project is limited and we aim to address the known accumulation of stuff in the fraternity houses located on OWU's fraternity hill.

Sorry Chi Phi and Senior Living Houses ( 35 Williams, 4 Williams etc)

Sigma Phi Epsilon

Delta Tau Delta

Sigma Chi

Phi Delta Theta

Phi Kappa Psi

Alpha Sigma Phi

Email to Ensure Clarity

Fraternity Presidents

As the school year comes to a close we would first like to wish you and your brothers the best with finals approaching and wish you all safe and happy travels this summer. The reason we are contacting you is regarding the discarding of old electronics, clothes, and general recyclables as we all prepare to move to our various destinations for the summer. Alex Schuster, Sam Keen, and I brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon have taken up for an independent study or for the Geog 360 course an initiative to divert discarded items from landfills. For those of you who are not aware our landfills nation wide are filled with remnants of our throw away society and many of these items could have been reused.

With this we would politely ask that you would open your doors to our group. We would be placing clearly marked bins in the main entrance ways to your houses. We would then ask you to encourage your brothers to utilize these bins for as much of their disposal as possible. Your recycled items will then be donated to Good Will Industries where they will either be retailed or recycled responsibly.

Once again we would like to wish you and all your brothers nothing but the best with the end of the semester. We also hope you will please consider our project and its message. Your cooperation would be greatly appreciated and your help will in a small way go to helping make our planet a little greener for the future.

With Much Thanks,

Chris Badenhop, Project Manager

Sam Keen

Alex Schuster